Home automation system-initiated calls

ABSTRACT

Methods, apparatuses, and techniques for security and/or automation systems are described. In one embodiment, the method may include receiving a call initiation instruction at a video monitoring component of a home automation system. The method may further include analyzing the call initiation instruction, and communicating a call request from the video monitoring component of the home automation system to a first remote user based at least in part on the received call initiation instruction.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure, for example, relates to security and/orautomation systems, and more particularly to automatically initiatingcall between a home automation system and a remote user based at leastin part on a call initiation instruction received at a video monitoringcomponent of the home automation system.

Security and automation systems are widely deployed to provide varioustypes of communication and functional features such as monitoring,communication, notification, and/or others. These systems may be capableof supporting communication with a user through a communicationconnection or a system management action.

Home intercom systems may provide for communication between users withinthe home, but may be closed systems, not allowing for communication withusers located outside the home. Other systems may merely allow forremote users to call into the home. There is lacking a smart homecommunication system with which a call may be placed from the system toremote users outside the home.

SUMMARY

Existing communication means rely primarily on cellular phones andpersonal computing devices to place calls between remote users. In someinstances, however, children without cellular phones, or other userswithout immediate access to their phones, may wish to place a call to auser outside the home. Particularly where home landline phones arebecoming obsolete, a way by which calls may be easily placed to a useroutside the home may be desirable. The present disclosure providessystems, methods, and techniques by which such calls may be placed usingone or more security and/or automation system components, such as avideo and/or an audio monitoring component. In some examples, a user mayinitiate an instruction and one or more system elements may analyze theinitiation instruction and communicate a call (audio and/or video) to afirst remote user.

For example, a method for security and/or automation systems isdisclosed. In some examples, the method may include receiving a callinitiation instruction at a video monitoring component of a homeautomation system, and analyzing the call initiation instruction. Themethod may further include communicating a call request from the videomonitoring component of the home automation system to a first remoteuser based at least in part on the received call initiation instruction.In some examples, a call acceptance may be received from the firstremote user, and a two-way call may be initiated between the videomonitoring component of the home automation system and the first remoteuser. The two-way call may include any of a two-way audio call, or aone-way video call, or a two-way video call, or a combination thereof.In other examples, the first remote user may reject the incoming callrequest, and the calling user may be given the opportunity to record amessage for the first remote user at the home automation system, forexample in the form of an audio, video, and/or text message. Therecorded message may be communicated to the first remote user, forexample at his smartphone or personal computing device, on a dedicatedapplication. In some examples, a response message from the first remoteuser may be received at the home automation system based at least inpart on the received call rejection or the communicated recordedmessage.

In some examples, a user may initiate a call with a first remote user byinputting a call initiation instruction at a video monitoring componentof the home automation system. For example, a child who is home alonemay input a call initiation instruction at a control panel in the homeby pressing an appropriate button on the screen or panel associated withthe instruction to “Call dad.” In other examples, the call initiationinstruction may take the form of a verbal command. For example, a usermay speak aloud “Call dad,” and this command may be detected by amicrophone associated with the home automation system, at a sensor, astand-alone device, and/or a control panel, among other systemcomponents. Other embodiments may allow for detection of a gesturalcommand, such as a wave or hand signal performed by the user, detectedby a video or motion detection component of the home automation system.

Upon receiving the call initiation instruction, the home automationsystem may initiate a call with the indicated remote user. For example,the home automation system may initiate an audio and/or video call, viaWi-Fi or another appropriate means, with the remote user's smartphone orpersonal computing device. In some examples, the remote user may receivea call request at his smartphone or personal computing device, forexample through a dedicated application. The remote user may thenapprove or deny the call request. Where the remote user approves thecall request, a two-way voice and/or video call may be establishedbetween the home automation system and the remote user. Alternatively,where the remote user denies the call request, the calling user may begiven the option to leave a message for the remote user, for example inthe form of an audio, video, and/or text message. This message may berecorded at the home automation system, and may be communicated to theremote user. The remote user may then view and/or listen to the messageat his convenience on his smartphone and/or personal computing device.The remote user may also reply to the received message, for example byrecording an audio, video, and/or text message to be communicated backto the home automation system, where the calling user may view and/orlisten to the message. In some examples, a component of the homeautomation system, such as a control panel, may broadcast the recordedmessage, for example by playing a recorded audio message over a speakersystem and/or projecting a text message on a display screen and/or othersurface in the home.

In any example, the voice and/or audio call may be facilitated by anexisting component of the home automation system. For example, a usermay initiate a call at a control panel in the home, or at a videomonitor associated with the home security system. An existing homesecurity camera, for example, may include a speaker and a microphone,and may include a button or other input means for initiating a call to aremote user. In other examples, a dedicated calling component may beassociated with the home automation system. In still other examples, auser may utilize his smartphone or personal computing device, forexample using a dedicated application, to place a call routed throughthe home automation system. This embodiment may be useful where, forexample, the user does not have cellular service or a Wi-Fi signal onhis device, but his device is nonetheless tied, for example viaBluetooth or another known means, to the home automation system.

In some examples, a call initiation instruction received at the homeautomation system may initiate a call with all remote users associatedwith the home automation system. For example, a user may provide ageneral input, such as pushing a button or speaking “[[System Name]],call,” and a general call may be placed to any member of the family orother remote user associated with the home automation system. In otherexamples, a more specific call may be placed to an identified remoteuser. In still other examples, emergency calls may be initiated upondetection by the home automation system of various emergency parameters.For example, detection by the home automation system of a user shouting“Help!”, alone or in combination with other security and/or automationsystem data, or some other audio trigger may initiate a call with anemergency call center. In other examples, various detected parameters,such as user physiological states, including heart rate, respirationrate, and the like, above or below predetermined physiologicalthresholds, may trigger a call to an emergency call center.

In some examples, the first remote user may reject the incoming callinitiation request. In some examples, a call request may then becommunicated to a second remote user based at least in part on the callrejection. For example, a child home alone may first attempt to call hisdad; if his dad doesn't answer, the same and/or a different call maythen be relayed to his mother. In other examples, the call request maybe communicated to at least a second remote user, wherein communicatingthe call request to the first remote user may overlap with communicatingthe call request to at least the second remote user. For example, a callrequest may be initiated to a plurality of remote users successively orsimultaneously, such as to all members of a family associated with thehome automation system.

In some examples, the method described may further include communicatinga second call request to a second remote user based at least in part oncommunicating the call request to the first remote user. In someexamples, the method may include identifying a portion of the callinitiation instruction, and communicating the call request to a secondremote user based at least in part on the identifying. The identifiedportion of the call initiation instruction may include any of a keyword, or a key phrase, or a combination thereof. For example, where thechild home alone attempts to call his dad by speaking a command at acontrol panel to “Call dad,” or “Contact Paul,” the system may identifythe key word “dad,” or “Paul” and infer that the child is attempting tocontact a parent and/or a specific person. On the basis of thisinference, the system may communicate a call request to the child's mom,on the basis that his mom is also a parent or another user that may berelated to Paul by some association. In other examples, the identifiedportion of the call initiation instruction may include any of an image,or a video segment, or a combination thereof. For example, a child maymake a gestural command, detected by a video monitoring component of thehome automation system, which indicates that the system should “Calldad.” The system may identify this gesture as indicating a desire toreach a parent, and may communicate a call request to the child's mom,simultaneously or serially, based on this identifying.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technicaladvantages of examples according to this disclosure so that thefollowing detailed description may be better understood. Additionalfeatures and advantages will be described below. The conception andspecific examples disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis formodifying or designing other structures for carrying out the samepurposes of the present disclosure. Such equivalent constructions do notdepart from the scope of the appended claims. Characteristics of theconcepts disclosed herein—including their organization and method ofoperation—together with associated advantages will be better understoodfrom the following description when considered in connection with theaccompanying figures. Each of the figures is provided for the purpose ofillustration and description only, and not as a definition of the limitsof the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the presentdisclosure may be realized by reference to the following drawings. Inthe appended figures, similar components or features may have the samereference label. Further, various components of the same type may bedistinguished by following a first reference label with a dash and asecond label that may distinguish among the similar components. However,features discussed for various components—including those having a dashand a second reference label—apply to other similar components. If onlythe first reference label is used in the specification, the descriptionis applicable to any one of the similar components having the same firstreference label irrespective of the second reference label.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of examples of security and/or automationsystems, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure;

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a device relating to a security and/oran automation system, in accordance with various aspects of thisdisclosure;

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a device relating to a security and/oran automation system, in accordance with various aspects of thisdisclosure;

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram relating to a security and/or an automationsystem, in accordance with various aspects of this disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method relating to asecurity and/or an automation system, in accordance with various aspectsof this disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method relating to asecurity and/or an automation system, in accordance with various aspectsof this disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method relating to asecurity and/or an automation system, in accordance with various aspectsof this disclosure; and

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method relating to asecurity and/or an automation system, in accordance with various aspectsof this disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The systems and methods described herein relate to facilitating callsbetween home occupants and remote users. More specifically, the systemsand methods provided herein provide techniques to initiate two-way callsfrom a video monitoring component of a home automation system to one ormore remote users.

The following description provides examples and is not limiting of thescope, applicability, and/or examples set forth in the claims. Changesmay be made in the function and/or arrangement of elements discussedwithout departing from the scope of the disclosure. Various examples mayomit, substitute, and/or add various procedures and/or components asappropriate. For instance, the methods described may be performed in anorder different from that described, and/or various steps may be added,omitted, and/or combined. Also, features described with respect to someexamples may be combined in other examples.

FIG. 1 is an example of a home automation system 100 in accordance withvarious aspects of the disclosure. In some embodiments, the homeautomation system 100 may include one or more sensor units 110, localcomputing device 115, network 120, server 125, control panel 130, and/orremote computing device 135, 145. The network 120 may provide userauthentication, encryption, access authorization, tracking, InternetProtocol (IP) connectivity, and other access, calculation, modification,and/or functions. The control panel 130 may interface with the network120 through wired and/or wireless communication links 140 and mayperform communication configuration, adjustment, and/or scheduling forcommunication with local computing device 115 or remote computing device135, 145, or may operate under the control of a controller. Controlpanel 130 may communicate with a back end server 125—directly and/orindirectly—using one or more communication links 140.

The control panel 130 may wirelessly communicate via communication links140 with the local computing device 115 via one or more antennas. Thecontrol panel 130 may provide communication coverage for a geographiccoverage area. In some examples, control panel 130 may be referred to asa control device, a base transceiver station, a radio base station, anaccess point, a radio transceiver, a home automation control panel, asmart home panel, a security control panel, or some other suitableterminology. The geographic coverage area for control panel 130 may bedivided into sectors making up only a portion of the coverage area.Therefore, home automation system 100 may comprise more than one controlpanel 130, where each control panel 130 may provide geographic coveragefor a sector of the coverage area. The home automation system 100 mayinclude one or more control panels 130 of different types. The controlpanel 130 may be related to one or more discrete structures (e.g., ahome, a business) and each of the one more discrete structures may berelated to one or more discrete areas. Control panel 130 may be a homeautomation system control panel or security control panel, for examplean interactive panel mounted on a wall in a user's home. Control panel130 may be in direct communication via wired or wireless communicationlinks 140 with the one or more sensor units 110, or may receive sensordata from the one or more sensor units 110 via local computing device115 and network 120, or may receive data via remote computing device135, 145, server 125, and/or network 120.

In any embodiment, control panel 130 may comprise any of a speaker, amicrophone, a video monitoring component, or a combination thereof,described in more detail below with respect to FIG. 2. The control panel130 may be operable to broadcast audio communications from the remotecomputing device 135, 145, or to detect audio input at the control panel130 and communicate the audio to the remote computing device 135, 145,or a combination thereof. The control panel 130 may also be operable tobroadcast video communications from the remote computing device 135,145, or to record live video at the control panel 130 and communicatethe live video to the remote computing device 135, 145, or a combinationthereof. In other embodiments, control panel 130 may be operable toreceive audio input, video input, and/or an inputted call initiationinstruction from one or more sensor units 110 and transmit the audioinput, video input, and/or inputted call initiation instruction toremote computing device 135, 145, or to broadcast audio and/or videocommunications from the remote computing device 135, 145 to the one ormore sensor units 110, or a combination thereof. In still otherembodiments, control panel 130 may be operable to receive audio input,video input, and/or inputted call initiation instruction from localcomputing device 115 and transmit the audio input, video input, and/orinputted call initiation instruction to remote computing device 135,145, or to broadcast audio and/or video communications from the remotecomputing device 135, 145 to the local computing device 115, or acombination thereof. In some embodiments, control panel 130 maycommunicate the inputted call initiation instruction to a server 125 forprocessing.

The home automation system may comprise one or more local computingdevices 115, which may be dispersed throughout the home automationsystem 100, where each local computing device 115 may be stationaryand/or mobile. Local computing device 115 may be a custom computingentity configured to interact with one or more sensor units 110 and/orcontrol panel 130 via network 120, and in some embodiments, via server125. In other embodiments, local computing device 115 may be a generalpurpose computing entity. A local computing device 115 may have an audioand/or a video component, and may include a cellular phone, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communicationdevice, a handheld device, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, acordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a display device(e.g., TVs, computer monitors, etc.), a printer, a sensor, and/or thelike. A local computing device 115 may also include or be referred to bythose skilled in the art as a user device, a sensor, a smartphone, aniPod®, an iPad®, a Bluetooth device, a Wi-Fi device, a mobile station, asubscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, aremote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wirelesscommunications device, a remote device, an access terminal, a mobileterminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a useragent, a mobile client, a client, and/or some other suitableterminology.

A local computing device 115, one or more sensor units 110, and/orcontrol panel 130 may include and/or be one or more sensors that sensecommunication- and/or security-related data, including but not limitedto: proximity, motion, temperatures, humidity, sound level, smoke,structural features (e.g., glass breaking, window position, doorposition), time, geo-location data of a user and/or a device, distance,biometrics, weight, speed, height, size, preferences, light, darkness,weather, time, system performance, vibration, respiration, heartbeat,and/or other inputs that relate to a security and/or an automationsystem. Furthermore, local computing device 115, one or more sensorunits 110, and/or control panel 130 may comprise a speaker and/ormicrophone audio component. Local computing device 115, one or moresensor units 110, and/or control panel 130 may additionally oralternatively comprise a video monitoring and/or video displaycomponent. A local computing device 115 may be able to communicatethrough one or more wired and/or wireless communication links 140 withvarious components such as control panels, base stations, and/or networkequipment (e.g., servers, wireless communication points, etc.) and/orthe like within the home, and may further be able to communicate throughone or more wired and/or wireless communication links 140 with remoteusers via a network 120 and a remote computing device 135, 145associated with one or more remote users.

Remote computing device 135, 145 may be, in some embodiments, a centralsecurity operating station, where the central security operating stationis configured to monitor security data for the home automation system.An operator or dispatcher located at the central security operatingstation may receive security alerts and alarms from the home automationsystem and may attempt to establish one- or two-way communication withoccupants in the home via the home automation system. In otherembodiments, remote computing device 135, 145 may be a personalcomputing device, such as a smartphone, tablet, or personal computer,which a remote user may use to establish one- or two-way communicationwith occupants in the home. For example, a remote user may attempt tocall his family from his smartphone when he is travelling, and may do sovia the home automation system. In further embodiments, remote computingdevice 135, 145 may be a personal computing device, such as asmartphone, tablet, or personal computer, in the possession of a remoteuser and at which call requests from a user(s) inside the home arereceived. Where the remote user accepts the call request, a two-wayaudio, one-way video, and/or two-way video call may be establishedbetween the user(s) inside the home and the remote user.

The communication links 140 shown in home automation system 100 mayinclude uplink (UL) transmissions from a local computing device 115 to acontrol panel 130, and/or downlink (DL) transmissions from a controlpanel 130 to a local computing device 115. The communication links 140may further or alternatively include uplink (UL) transmissions from alocal computing device 115, one or more sensor units 110, and/or controlpanel 130 to remote computing device 135, 145, and/or downlink (DL)transmissions from the remote computing device 135, 145 to localcomputing device 115, one or more sensor units 110, and/or control panel130. The downlink transmissions may also be called forward linktransmissions while the uplink transmissions may also be called reverselink transmissions. Each communication link 140 may include one or morecarriers, where each carrier may be a signal made up of multiplesub-carriers (e.g., waveform signals of different frequencies) modulatedaccording to the various radio technologies. Each modulated signal maybe sent on a different sub-carrier and may carry control information(e.g., reference signals, control channels, etc.), overhead information,user data, etc. The communication links 140 may transmit bidirectionalcommunications and/or unidirectional communications. Communication links140 may include one or more connections, including but not limited to,345 MHz, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular, Z Wave, 802.11, peer-to-peer, LAN,WLAN, Ethernet, fire wire, fiber optic, and/or other connection typesrelated to security and/or automation systems.

In some embodiments of home automation system 100, control panel 130,one or more sensor units 110, and/or local computing device 115 mayinclude one or more antennas for employing antenna diversity schemes toimprove communication quality and reliability between control panel 130,one or more sensor units 110, and local computing device 115.Additionally or alternatively, control panel 130, one or more sensorunits 110, and/or local computing device 115 may employ multiple-input,multiple-output (MIMO) techniques that may take advantage of multi-path,mesh-type environments to transmit multiple spatial layers carrying thesame or different coded data.

Local computing device 115 may communicate directly with one or moreother devices via one or more direct communication links 140. Two ormore local computing devices 115 may communicate via a directcommunication link 140 when both local computing devices 115 are in thegeographic coverage area or when one or neither local computing device115 is within the geographic coverage area. Examples of directcommunication links 140 may include Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth, wired,and/or other P2P group connections. The local computing devices 115 inthese examples may communicate according to the WLAN radio and basebandprotocol including physical and MAC layers from IEEE 802.11, and itsvarious versions including, but not limited to, 802.11b, 802.11g,802.11a, 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11ad, 802.11ah, etc. In otherimplementations, other peer-to-peer connections and/or ad hoc networksmay be implemented within home automation system 100.

In some embodiments, one or more sensor units 110 may communicate viawired or wireless communication links 140 with one or more of the localcomputing device 115 or network 120. The network 120 may communicate viawired or wireless communication links 140 with the control panel 130 andthe remote computing device 135, 145 via server 125. In alternateembodiments, the network 120 may be integrated with any one of the localcomputing device 115, server 125, or remote computing device 135, 145,such that separate components are not required. Additionally, inalternate embodiments, one or more sensor units 110 may be integratedwith control panel 130, and/or control panel 130 may be integrated withlocal computing device 115, such that separate components are notrequired.

The local computing device 115 and/or control panel 130 may includememory, a processor, an output, a data input, and/or a communicationmodule. The processor may be a general purpose processor, a FieldProgrammable Gate Array (FPGA), an Application Specific IntegratedCircuit (ASIC), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), and/or the like. Theprocessor may be configured to retrieve data from and/or write data tothe memory. The memory may be, for example, a random access memory(RAM), a memory buffer, a hard drive, a database, an erasableprogrammable read only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasableprogrammable read only memory (EEPROM), a read only memory (ROM), aflash memory, a hard disk, a floppy disk, cloud storage, and/or soforth. In some embodiments, the local computing device 115 and/orcontrol panel 130 may include one or more hardware-based modules (e.g.,DSP, FPGA, ASIC) and/or software-based modules (e.g., a module ofcomputer code stored at the memory and executed at the processor, a setof processor-readable instructions that may be stored at the memory andexecuted at the processor) associated with executing an application,such as, for example, receiving and displaying data from one or moresensor units 110.

The processor of the local computing device 115 and/or control panel 130may be operable to control operation of the output of the localcomputing device 115 and/or control panel 130. The output may be atelevision, a liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor, a cathode ray tube(CRT) monitor, speaker, tactile output device, and/or the like. In someembodiments, the output may be an integral component of the localcomputing device 115. Similarly stated, the output may be directlycoupled to the processor. For example, the output may be the integraldisplay of a tablet and/or smartphone. In some embodiments, an outputmodule may include, for example, a High Definition Multimedia Interface™(HDMI) connector, a Video Graphics Array (VGA) connector, a UniversalSerial Bus™ (USB) connector, a tip, ring, sleeve (TRS) connector, and/orany other suitable connector operable to couple the local computingdevice 115 and/or control panel 130 to the output.

The remote computing device 135, 145 may be a computing entity operableto enable a remote user or operator to accept a call request receivedfrom one or more of the control panel 130, local computing device 115,and/or one or more sensor units 110. The remote computing device 135,145 may be functionally and/or structurally similar to the localcomputing device 115 and may be operable to receive data streams fromand/or send signals to at least one of the sensor units 110, controlpanel 130, and/or local computing device 115, via the network 120. Thenetwork 120 may be the Internet, an intranet, a personal area network, alocal area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a virtual network,a telecommunications network implemented as a wired network and/orwireless network, etc. The remote computing device 135, 145 may receiveand/or send signals over the network 120 via communication links 140 andserver 125.

In some embodiments, the one or more sensor units 110, control panel130, and/or local computing device 115 may be sensors configured toconduct periodic and/or ongoing automatic measurements related to callinitiation instructions, video input, and/or audio input. Each sensorunit 110, control panel 130, and/or local computing device 115 may becapable of sensing multiple parameters, or alternatively, separatesensor units 110, control panels 130, and/or local computing devices 115may monitor separate parameters. For example, one sensor unit 110 mayinclude video monitoring components, while a control panel 130 (or, insome embodiments, the same or a different sensor unit 110) may detectaudio input, for example from a user speaking a call initiationinstruction. In some embodiments, a local computing device 115 mayadditionally monitor alternate parameters, such as gestural commands toinitiate a call. In alternate embodiments, a user may input a callinitiation instruction directly at the local computing device 115 orcontrol panel 130. For example, a user may press a button on a controlpanel associated with initiating a call to a particular or generalremote user, and this call initiation instruction may be communicated tothe remote computing device 135, 145 accordingly.

In some embodiments, the one or more sensor units 110 may be separatefrom the control panel 130, and may be positioned at various locationsthroughout the home or property. The one or more sensor units 110 mayinclude the designated hardware and/or software to receive a callinitiation instruction, analyze the call initiation instruction, andcommunicate a call request to a remote user independent of other systemcomponents, such as control panel 130. In other embodiments, the one ormore sensor units 110 may be integrated or collocated with one or morehome automation system components or home appliances or fixtures. Forexample, a sensor unit 110 may be integrated with a doorbell system, ormay be integrated with a front porch light. In other embodiments, asensor unit 110 may be integrated with a wall outlet or switch. In stillother embodiments, the one or more sensor units 110 may be integrated orcollocated with the control panel 130 itself. In any embodiment, each ofthe one or more sensor units 110, control panel 130, and/or localcomputing device 115 may comprise a video monitoring unit, a videodisplay unit, a speaker unit, or a microphone unit, or a combinationthereof.

In some embodiments, sensor units 110 may comprise sensor modulesretrofitted to existing mobile robotic device platforms, for example aniRobot Roomba®. The sensor units 110 integrated with or attached to themobile robotic device may therefore be mobile throughout the home orproperty to detect video, audio, and/or inputted call initiationinstructions, or to broadcast video and/or audio received from theremote computing device 135, 145, or a combination thereof. The mobilerobotic devices may be operable to locate users in the home based onmotion detection, sound detection, heartbeat or breathing detection, orany other known means. Alternatively or in addition, the mobile roboticdevices may be operable to relocate to users in the home based oninstructions received from a component of the home automation system orthe remote computing device 135, 145. In this way, one-way and/ortwo-way communication may be established between the remote computingdevice 135, 145 and users in the home, regardless of the location ofsensor units 110 or control panels 130.

Audio, video, and/or inputted call initiation instructions gathered bythe one or more sensor units 110 may be communicated to local computingdevice 115, which may be, in some embodiments, a thermostat, controlpanel, or other wall-mounted input/output home automation systemdisplay. In other embodiments, local computing device 115 may be apersonal computer or smartphone. Where local computing device 115 is asmartphone, the smartphone may have a dedicated application directed tocollecting user inputted call initiation instructions, video, and audiodata and facilitating one-way and/or two-way communication with outsidecallers. The local computing device 115 may communicate the receivedinputted call initiation instructions, video, and/or audio data to theremote computing device 135, 145. In other embodiments, audio, video,and/or inputted call initiation instructions collected by the one ormore sensor units 110 may be communicated to the control panel 130,which may communicate the collected audio, video, and/or inputted callinitiation instructions to the remote computing device 135, 145. Instill other embodiments, audio, video, and/or inputted call initiationinstructions collected by the one or more sensor units 110 may becommunicated directly to the remote computing device 135, 145 vianetwork 120, and in some embodiments, additionally through remote server125. Data transmission may occur via, for example, frequenciesappropriate for a personal area network (such as Bluetooth or IRcommunications) or local or wide area network frequencies such as radiofrequencies specified by the IEEE 802.15.4 standard.

In addition, audio and/or video may be broadcast from the remotecomputing device 135, 145 to any of the one or more sensor units 110,local computing device 115, or control panel 130, or a combinationthereof. The broadcasted audio and/or video may be communicated directlyto the one or more sensor units 110, local computing device 115, orcontrol panel 130 via network 120, or may first be communicated toremote server 125. In addition, audio and/or video broadcastscommunicated to one or more sensor units 110 from remote computingdevice 135, 145 may first be communicated via network 120 to controlpanel 130 and/or local computing device 115.

In some embodiments, one or more sensor units 110, local computingdevice 115, or control panel 130 may communicate with remote computingdevice 135, 145 via network 120 and server 125. Examples of networks 120include cloud networks, local area networks (LAN), wide area networks(WAN), virtual private networks (VPN), wireless networks (using 802.11,for example), and/or cellular networks (using 3G and/or LTE, forexample), etc. In some configurations, the network 120 may include theInternet.

The server 125 may be configured to communicate with the sensor units110, the local computing device 115, the remote computing device 135,145, and control panel 130. The server 125 may perform additionalprocessing on signals received from the one or more sensor units 110,control panel 130, or local computing device 115, or may simply forwardthe received information to the remote computing device 135, 145. Forexample, server 125 may receive a call initiation instruction from oneor more sensor units 110, and may receive a call acceptance from remotecomputing device 135. Based on the received call initiation instruction,the server 125 may facilitate initiation of a two-way call between aremote user at remote computing device 135 and a component of the homeautomation system, such as a control panel 130, local computing device115, and/or one or more sensor unit 110. In this way, the homeautomation system, via the server 125, may automatically facilitatetwo-way calls between a home occupant and a remote user.

Server 125 may be a computing device operable to receive data streams(e.g., from one or more sensor units 110, control panel 130, localcomputing device 115, and/or remote computing device 135, 145), storeand/or process data, and/or transmit data and/or data summaries (e.g.,to remote computing device 135, 145). For example, server 125 mayreceive a call initiation instruction received at a control panel 130, astream of video data from a sensor unit 110, and a stream of audio datafrom the same and/or a different sensor unit 110. In some embodiments,server 125 may “pull” the data streams, e.g., by querying the sensorunits 110, the local computing device 115, and/or the control panel 130.In some embodiments, the data streams may be “pushed” from the sensorunits 110, control panel 130, and/or the local computing device 115 tothe server 125. For example, the sensor units 110, control panel 130,and/or the local computing device 115 may be configured to transmit dataas it is generated by or entered into that device. In some instances,the sensor units 110, control panel 130, and/or the local computingdevice 115 may periodically transmit data (e.g., as a block of data oras one or more data points).

The server 125 may include a database (e.g., in memory) containing callinitiation instructions, video, and/or audio data received from the oneor more sensor units 110, control panel 130, and/or the local computingdevice 115. Additionally, as described in further detail herein,software (e.g., stored in memory) may be executed on a processor of theserver 125. Such software (executed on the processor) may be operable tocause the server 125 to monitor, process, summarize, present, and/orsend a signal associated with call initiation instructions, video,and/or audio data.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram 200 of an apparatus 205 for use inelectronic communication, in accordance with various aspects of thisdisclosure. The apparatus 205 may be an example of one or more aspectsof a control panel 130, and/or in other embodiments may be an example ofone or more aspects of the one or more sensor units 110, and/or in otherembodiments may be an example of one or more aspects of the localcomputing device 115, each of which is described with reference toFIG. 1. The apparatus 205 may include any of a receiver module 210, acommunication module 215, and/or a transmitter module 220, among others.The apparatus 205 may also be or include a processor. Each of thesemodules may be in communication with each other—directly and/orindirectly.

As previously discussed, in some embodiments, where apparatus 205 is acontrol panel, apparatus 205 may be a control panel in the form of, forexample, an interactive home automation system display. In otherembodiments, apparatus 205 may be a local computing device, such as apersonal computer or smartphone. In still other embodiments, apparatus205 may be at least one sensor unit. In any embodiment, apparatus 205may include any of audio and/or video detection components, or audioand/or video projection components, or a combination thereof.

The components of the apparatus 205 may, individually or collectively,be implemented using one or more application-specific integratedcircuits (ASICs) adapted to perform some or all of the applicablefunctions in hardware. Alternatively, the functions may be performed byone or more other processing units (or cores), on one or more integratedcircuits. In other examples, other types of integrated circuits may beused (e.g., Structured/Platform ASICs, Field Programmable Gate Arrays(FPGAs), and other Semi-Custom ICs), which may be programmed in anymanner known in the art. The functions of each module may also beimplemented—in whole or in part—with instructions embodied in memoryformatted to be executed by one or more general and/orapplication-specific processors.

The receiver module 210 may receive information such as packets, userdata, and/or control information associated with various informationchannels (e.g., control channels, data channels, etc.). The receivermodule 210 may be configured to receive a call initiation instructionfrom a home occupant. The call initiation instruction may be received inthe form of a verbal command, a gestural command, a user input at a userinterface of a home automation system component, and/or a combinationthereof. Received call initiation instructions may be passed on to acommunication module 215, which may analyze the received call initiationinstruction and derive a call request accordingly. In addition, thecommunication module 215 may communicate the derived call request to atransmitter module 220, and/or to other components of the apparatus 205.The transmitter module 220 may then communicate the call request to aremote computing device or to a local server.

The receiver module 210 may additionally be configured to receive a callacceptance from one or more remote users (e.g., the first remote user)to whom the call request is communicated by transmitter module 220. Forexample, the first remote user may receive a call request at hispersonal computing device, such as a smartphone, tablet, or computer,and may accept the call request. The call acceptance may be received atreceiver module 210, for example, via a server. The call acceptance maybe communicated from receiver module 210 to communication module 215,and communication module 215 may initiate a two-way call between thehome occupant and the first remote user.

In some examples, where apparatus 205 is an example of a sensor unit orcontrol panel having video monitoring and video display components, thetwo-way call may be facilitated locally by apparatus 205. For example,the home occupant may be able to speak into or at the apparatus 205, andmay hear and/or see responses from the first remote user at theapparatus 205. In other examples, where apparatus 205 is an example of asensor unit or control panel not having video monitoring and/or videodisplay components, the two-way call may be routed through the apparatus205 to a separate component of the home automation system having videomonitoring and display components, such that the home occupant mayconduct the two-way call with the first remote user.

In some examples, where apparatus 205 is an example of a sensor unit orcontrol panel lacking video monitoring and video display components, aone-way video call may be facilitated locally by apparatus 205. Forexample, the home occupant may be able to speak into or at the apparatus205, and may hear responses from the first remote user at the apparatus205 while the first remote user may receive video data from theapparatus 205.

Apparatus 205-a, which may be an example of apparatus 205 illustrated inFIG. 2, is further detailed in FIG. 3. Apparatus 205-a may comprise anyof a receiver module 210-a, a communication module 215-a, and/or atransmitter module 220-a, each of which may be examples of the receivermodule 210, the communication module 215, and the transmitter module 220as illustrated in FIG. 2. Apparatus 205-a may further comprise, as acomponent of the communication module 215-a, any of an instructionanalyzing module 305, a call request module 310, and/or a callinitiation module 315, among others.

The components of apparatus 205-a may, individually or collectively, beimplemented using one or more application-specific integrated circuits(ASICs) adapted to perform some or all of the applicable functions inhardware. Alternatively, the functions may be performed by one or moreother processing units (or cores), on one or more integrated circuits.In other examples, other types of integrated circuits may be used (e.g.,Structured/Platform ASICs, Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), andother Semi-Custom ICs), which may be programmed in any manner known inthe art. The functions of each module may also be implemented—in wholeor in part—with instructions embodied in memory formatted to be executedby one or more general and/or application-specific processors.

Where apparatus 205-a is any of a sensor unit, control panel, or localcomputing device, receiver module 210-a may be operable to receive acall initiation instruction from a home occupant. The call initiationinstruction may be received in the form of a verbal command, a gesturalcommand, an input at a user interface, and/or any combination thereof.Where apparatus 205-a includes a video monitoring component, the callinitiation instruction may be received directly at apparatus 205-a. Inother examples, where apparatus 205-a does not include a videomonitoring component, the call initiation instruction may be received ata component of the home automation system having a video monitoringcomponent, and the call initiation instruction may be communicated fromthat component to apparatus 205-a.

Upon receipt of the call initiation instruction, either locally atapparatus 205-a and/or by transmission to apparatus 205-a from a remotecomponent of the home automation system, receiver module 210-a maycommunicate the call initiation instruction to instruction analyzingmodule 305. Instruction analyzing module 305 may analyze the receivedcall initiation instruction in order to determine the appropriaterecipients of a call request, a determined urgency of the call request,an identity of one or more users making the call request, the subject ofthe call request, and/or some combination, among other things. Forexample, where the home occupant has provided a call initiationinstruction as a gestural command, instruction analyzing module 305 maycompare the detected gestures with a database of known gestures, such ashand signals or the like, and corresponding call request recipients. Inother examples, where the home occupant has provided a verbal command,instruction analyzing module 305 may compare the detected audio with adatabase of known command keywords or phrases and corresponding callrequest recipients. In other examples, where the home occupant hasprovided a verbal command, instruction analyzing module 305 may comparethe detected audio with a database of known user profiles (e.g.,including voice inflection, tone, vocabulary, pronunciation, and/or somecombination, among others) and corresponding call request recipients. Insome embodiments, these techniques may be based on segmenting the callrequest and comparing one or more segments to pre-recorded data, pastcall requests, a database of stored call request-related information,and/or other information to aid in the analysis and perform related callrequest actions. In some embodiments, these techniques may be based onanalyzing the entire call request and comparing the call request and/orsome portion of the call request to other information, including but notlimited to past call requests, pre-recorded pronunciations and/or videorecordings relating to one or more users, gesture based detection usingimage data (e.g., photo, video, combination), and the like.

In either example, instruction analyzing module 305 may further analyzethe instruction to determine an identity of the home occupant issuingthe command. For example, instruction analyzing module 305 may receivefacial data and/or body data (e.g., height, weight, shape, eye color,hair color, face shape, etc.) associated with the home occupant from oneor more sensor units and may compare that data with a database of knownhome occupant identities in order to identify the occupant. In anotherexample, instruction analyzing module 305 may conduct voice analysis bycomparing audio detected by one or more sensor units with a database ofvocal identification data to determine the identity of a home occupantspeaking a verbal call initiation command. Thus, for example, where ahome occupant speaks a command to “call mom,” instruction analyzingmodule 305 may use facial, body, and/or voice recognition means todetermine whether the home occupant is a child in the home, instructingthe system to call his parent, or whether the home occupant is an adultin the home, instructing the system to call her parent (the child'sgrandparent).

In some examples, analysis of the call initiation instruction byinstruction analyzing module 305 may lead to communicating the callrequest to one or more second remote user. For example, a child may haveinputted a call request as a gestural command at a video monitoringcomponent of a control panel (apparatus 205-a). Instruction analyzingmodule 305 may analyze the gestural command and/or one or morecharacteristics (e.g., voice characteristics, physical characteristics,etc.) the identity of the requesting child, and may derive aninstruction to send a call request to the child's father. This callrequest may be communicated to call request module 310, which may inturn communicate the call request to the child's father via transmittermodule 220-a. If, in this example, the father rejects the call request,the call request rejection (and/or information derived from the callrequest rejection) may be received by receiver module 210-a andcommunicated to instruction analyzing module 305. Based at least in parton analyzing the call initiation instruction and identifying therequesting child, instruction analyzing module 305 may derive aninstruction to now send a call request to the child's mother, since thechild's father was unreachable. This call request may then becommunicated to the child's mother via call request module 310 andtransmitter module 220-a. In some examples, this relay of call requestsmay be sequential, while in other examples, one or more call requestsmay be communicated simultaneously to one or more remote users. In thisway, a child home alone may initiate a call with a specifically desiredrecipient, such as his father, or with any recipient of a group. In someembodiments, those included in the group may be based on those who arecurrently available, as determined by the recipient(s)'s acceptance ofthe call request, among other factors.

As discussed above, call request module 310 may receive details of thecall initiation instruction from instruction analyzing module 305, andmay derive a call request to be communicated to the appropriate one ormore remote users accordingly. In some examples, the received callinitiation instruction may be a generalized instruction to call out. Inthis example, call request module 310 may derive a call request to oneor more remote users associated with the home automation system. Remoteusers who are associated with the home automation system may bedesignated as such by input of user preferences at, for example, acontrol panel associated with the home automation system, among othermethods. For example, call request module 310 may derive a call requestto all four remote members of the household. In some examples, a callrequest may be communicated, via transmitter module 220-a, to eachhousehold member simultaneously. In other examples, a call request maybe communicated to each household member sequentially until a callacceptance is received. In the latter example, call request module 310may access a call priority list, for example inputted by a householdmember at the home automation system, to indicate an order in which toplace the calls. This call priority list may additionally and/oralternatively be based on additional factors and/or data, such as thetime of day, location, an electronic calendar appointment, a proximityto a home and/or other location, a relationship (e.g., parent first,sibling second, grandparent third, etc.), some combination, and/or otherinformation. In examples where one or more call rejections are receivedby receiver module 210-a, call request module 310 may derive a new callrequest to be communicated to one or more alternate remote users to whoma call request has not yet been communicated, or who have not yetreturned a call rejection.

Receiver module 210-a may receive a call acceptance from the one or moreremote users to whom the call request was communicated by call requestmodule 310 via transmitter module 220-a. This call acceptance may becommunicated from receiver module 210-a to call initiation module 315,and call initiation module 315 may initiate a two-way call between thevideo monitoring component of the home automation system and theaccepting remote user. The initiated two-way call may take the form ofany of a two-way audio call, a one-way video call, or a two-way videocall, or any combination thereof

FIG. 4 shows a system 400 for use in establishing communication betweena video monitoring component of a home automation system and at leastone remote user, in accordance with various examples. System 400 mayinclude an apparatus 205-b, which may be an example of the control panel130, local computing device 115, and/or one or more sensor units 110 ofFIG. 1, among others. Apparatus 205-b may also be an example of one ormore aspects of apparatus 205 and/or 205-a of FIGS. 2 and 3.

Apparatus 205-b may include a communication module 215-b, which may bean example of the communication module 215, 215-a described withreference to FIGS. 2 and 3. The communication module 215-b may analyzereceived call initiation instructions, derive call requests, andinitiate two-way calls, as described above with reference to FIGS. 2-3.

Apparatus 205-b may also include components for bi-directional video,voice, and data communications including components for transmittingcommunications and components for receiving communications. For example,apparatus 205-b may communicate bi-directionally with one or more ofremote computing device 135-a, remote server 125-a, or sensor unit110-a. This bi-directional communication may be direct (e.g., apparatus205-b communicating directly with sensor unit 110-a) or indirect (e.g.,apparatus 205-b communicating with remote computing device 135-a viaremote server 125-a). Remote server 125-a, remote computing device135-a, and sensor unit 110-a may be examples of remote server 125,remote computing device 135, 145, and sensor unit 110 as shown withrespect to FIG. 1.

In addition, apparatus 205-b may comprise message recording module 445.In some examples, as discussed previously with respect to FIGS. 2 and 3,a call request communicated from apparatus 205-b to a remote user mayresult in a call acceptance, communicated from the remote user andreceived at apparatus 205-b. As a result of this call acceptance, atwo-way call may be initiated between apparatus 205-b and the remoteuser, or between a different video monitoring component of the homeautomation system and the remote user, facilitated via apparatus 205-b.In other examples, the remote user may respond to the call request witha rejection. This call rejection may be communicated to apparatus 205-b.Where a call rejection is received, message recording module 445 mayallow for a recorded message to be communicated to the remote user inlieu of establishing a two-way communication. The recorded message maytake the form of any of an audio message, or a video message, or a textmessage, or a combination thereof, among other forms. Where apparatus205-b includes an audio and/or video monitoring component, or a userinterface, apparatus 205-b may prompt the calling home occupant torecord a message for the remote user at apparatus 205-b. In otherexamples, where apparatus 205-b does not include any of an audio and/orvideo monitoring component, or a user interface, the home occupant mayrecord the message at a separate component of the home automationsystem, and the recorded message may be communicated to messagerecording module 445. Thus, for example, where a home occupant attemptsto initiate a call with her husband, and her husband rejects theincoming call request because he is in a meeting, the home occupant mayinstead record a video message for her husband at a video monitoringcomponent of the home automation system.

The recorded message received by message recording module 445 may becommunicated to the remote user via antenna 435 in some examples, andmay be delivered to the remote user at remote computing device 135-a,such as a smartphone or personal computing device. The recorded messagemay be received by the remote user as a push notification or as part ofa dedicated application, or may be received as a standard email or SMStext message in other examples. The remote user may then view and/orlisten to the recorded message at his convenience. In some examples, theremote user may respond to the received recorded message by recording amessage of his own, to be communicated back to the home occupant viaapparatus 205-b. In other examples, the remote user may reject a callrequest, and may respond with a recorded message, in the absence ofreceiving a recorded message from the calling home occupant. The messagerecorded by the remote user may similarly take the form of a textmessage, audio message, and/or video message, and may be delivered, viaapparatus 205-b, to the home occupant at any component of the homeautomation system capable of displaying or broadcasting the message. Forexample, the home occupant may receive the remote user's recordedmessage as a text message on a display screen of a control panel, or mayhear the remote user's recorded message as it is broadcasted from aspeaker component of a sensor unit. Other examples are also envisioned.

Apparatus 205-b may also include a processor module 405, and memory 410(including software (SW) 415), an input/output controller module 420, auser interface module 425, a transceiver module 430, and one or moreantennas 435, each of which may communicate—directly or indirectly—withone another (e.g., via one or more buses 440). The transceiver module430 may communicate bi-directionally—via the one or more antennas 435,wired links, and/or wireless links—with one or more networks or remotedevices as described above. For example, the transceiver module 430 maycommunicate bi-directionally with one or more of remote server 125-a orsensor unit 110-a. The transceiver module 430 may include a modem tomodulate the packets and provide the modulated packets to the one ormore antennas 435 for transmission, and to demodulate packets receivedfrom the one or more antennas 435. While an apparatus comprising asensor unit, local computing device, or control panel (e.g., 205-b) mayinclude a single antenna 435, the apparatus may also have multipleantennas 435 capable of concurrently transmitting or receiving multiplewired and/or wireless transmissions. In some embodiments, one element ofapparatus 205-b (e.g., one or more antennas 435, transceiver module 430,etc.) may provide a direct connection to a remote server 125-a via adirect network link to the Internet via a POP (point of presence). Insome embodiments, one element of apparatus 205-b (e.g., one or moreantennas 435, transceiver module 430, etc.) may provide a connectionusing wireless techniques, including digital cellular telephoneconnection, Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) connection, digitalsatellite data connection, and/or another connection.

The signals associated with system 400 may include wirelesscommunication signals such as radio frequency, electromagnetics, localarea network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), virtual private network(VPN), wireless network (using 802.11, for example), 345 MHz, Z Wave,cellular network (using 3G and/or LTE, for example), and/or othersignals. The one or more antennas 435 and/or transceiver module 430 mayinclude or be related to, but are not limited to, WWAN (GSM, CDMA, andWCDMA), WLAN (including Bluetooth and Wi-Fi), WMAN (WiMAX), antennas formobile communications, antennas for Wireless Personal Area Network(WPAN) applications (including RFID and UWB). In some embodiments eachantenna 435 may receive signals or information specific and/or exclusiveto itself. In other embodiments each antenna 435 may receive signals orinformation neither specific nor exclusive to itself.

In some embodiments, the user interface module 425 may include an audiodevice, such as an external speaker system, an external display devicesuch as a display screen, and/or an input device (e.g., remote controldevice interfaced with the user interface module 425 directly and/orthrough I/O controller module 420).

One or more buses 440 may allow data communication between one or moreelements of apparatus 205-b (e.g., processor module 405, memory 410, I/Ocontroller module 420, user interface module 425, etc.).

The memory 410 may include random access memory (RAM), read only memory(ROM), flash RAM, and/or other types. The memory 410 may storecomputer-readable, computer-executable software/firmware code 415including instructions that, when executed, cause the processor module405 to perform various functions described in this disclosure (e.g.,receive a call initiation instruction, analyze the call initiationinstruction, communicate a call request to one or more remote user,initiate a two-way call with the one or more remote user, etc.).Alternatively, the computer-executable software/firmware code 415 maynot be directly executable by the processor module 405 but may cause acomputer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform functionsdescribed herein.

In some embodiments the processor module 405 may include, among otherthings, an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a central processing unit(CPU), a microcontroller, and/or an ASIC, etc.). The memory 410 maycontain, among other things, the Basic Input-Output System (BIOS) whichmay control basic hardware and/or software operation such as theinteraction with peripheral components or devices. For example, thecommunication module 215-b may be stored within the memory 410.Applications resident with system 400 are generally stored on andaccessed via a non-transitory computer readable medium, such as a harddisk drive or other storage medium. Additionally, applications may be inthe form of electronic signals modulated in accordance with theapplication and data communication technology when accessed via anetwork interface (e.g., transceiver module 430, one or more antennas435, etc.).

Many other devices and/or subsystems may be connected to, or may beincluded as, one or more elements of system 400 (e.g., entertainmentsystem, computing device, remote cameras, wireless key fob, wall mounteduser interface device, cell radio module, battery, alarm siren, doorlock, lighting system, thermostat, home appliance monitor, utilityequipment monitor, and so on). In some embodiments, all of the elementsshown in FIG. 4 need not be present to practice the present systems andmethods. The devices and subsystems can be interconnected in differentways from that shown in FIG. 4. In some embodiments, an aspect of someoperation of a system, such as that shown in FIG. 4, may be understoodby a person of ordinary skill in the art and is not discussed in detailin this disclosure. Code to implement the present disclosure may bestored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as one or moreof memory 410 or other memory. The operating system provided on I/Ocontroller module 420 may be iOS®, ANDROID®, MS-dOS®, MS-WINDOWS®,OS/2®, UNIX®, LINUX®, or another known operating system.

The components of the apparatus 205-b may, individually or collectively,be implemented using one or more application-specific integratedcircuits (ASICs) adapted to perform some or all of the applicablefunctions in hardware. Alternatively, the functions may be performed byone or more other processing units (or cores), on one or more integratedcircuits. In other examples, other types of integrated circuits may beused (e.g., Structured/Platform ASICs, Field Programmable Gate Arrays(FPGAs), and other Semi-Custom ICs), which may be programmed in anymanner known in the art. The functions of each module may also beimplemented—in whole or in part—with instructions embodied in memoryformatted to be executed by one or more general and/orapplication-specific processors.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method 500 forestablishing two-way communication between a video monitoring componentof a home automation system and a first remote user. For clarity, themethod 500 is described below with reference to aspects of one or moreof the sensor units 110, local computing device 115, control panel 130,and/or remote computing device 135, 145 described with reference toFIGS. 1-4, and/or aspects of one or more of the apparatus 205, 205-a, or205-b described with reference to FIGS. 2-4. In some examples, a controlpanel, local computing device, and/or sensor unit may execute one ormore sets of codes to control the functional elements described below.Additionally or alternatively, the control panel, local computingdevice, and/or sensor unit may perform one or more of the functionsdescribed below using special-purpose hardware.

At block 505, the method 500 may include receiving a call initiationinstruction at a video monitoring component of a home automation system.In some examples, the call initiation instruction may be received as anyof an auditory command, or a gestural command, or a user input, or acombination thereof. The call initiation instruction may be received atany component of the home automation system having a video monitoringcomponent. For example, the call initiation instruction may be receivedat a sensor unit or a control panel. In some examples, a home occupantmay press a button on the sensor unit or control panel (e.g., includingeach of the components differentiating between different actions relatedto the press of the button such as a quick press, a long press, arepeated press, a press and hold, etc.) to initiate instructiondetection, while in other examples the home occupant may simply speakthe command, or perform the gesture, or input the instruction associatedwith the call initiation instruction.

At block 510, the method 500 may include analyzing the call initiationinstruction. As previously discussed with respect to FIGS. 2 and 3,analyzing the call initiation instruction may include identifying aportion of the call initiation instruction, the identified portionincluding any of a key word, or a key phrase, or a combination thereof,in the case of auditory commands, or including any of an image, or avideo segment, or a gesture, or a combination thereof, in the case ofgestural commands. Analyzing the call initiation instruction may also oralternatively include identifying the home occupant delivering the callinitiation instruction. For example, at block 510, the audio associatedwith an auditory command may be analyzed with respect to a voicedatabase in order to identify the home occupant who is speaking, orfacial data detected by the video monitoring component may be analyzedwith respect to a facial database in order to identify the home occupantwho is giving a gestural or inputted command.

At block 515, the method 500 may include communicating a call requestfrom the video monitoring component of the home automation system to afirst remote user based at least in part on the received call initiationinstruction. As previously discussed with respect to FIGS. 2 and 3, thecall request may be communicated to the first user, via the videomonitoring component of the home automation system, at any personalcomputing device or dedicated application associated with the firstuser, such as a smartphone, tablet, or personal computer. The callrequest may be communicated as a push notification, or as an email orSMS text message, or as a standard phone call, among other things. Uponreceiving the call request, the first remote user may determine whetherto accept or reject the call request, as discussed in more detail belowwith respect to FIGS. 6 and 7.

The operations at blocks 505, 510, and 515 may be performed using thereceiver module 210, 210-a, the communication module 215, 215-a, 215-b,the transmitter module 220, 220-a, and/or the transceiver module 430,described with reference to FIGS. 2-4, among others.

Thus, the method 500 may provide for communication methods relating toautomation/security systems. It should be noted that the method 500 isjust one implementation and that the operations of the method 500 may berearranged or otherwise modified such that other implementations arepossible.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method 600 forestablishing a two-way call (among other contemplated variations)between a video monitoring component of a home automation system and afirst remote user, in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure. For clarity, the method 600 is described below withreference to aspects of one or more of the sensor units 110, localcomputing device 115, control panel 130, and/or remote computing device135, 145 described with reference to FIGS. 1-4, and/or aspects of one ormore of the apparatus 205, 205-a, or 205-b described with reference toFIGS. 2-4. In some examples, a control panel, local computing device,and/or sensor unit may execute one or more sets of codes to control thefunctional elements described below. Additionally or alternatively, thecontrol panel, local computing device, and/or sensor unit may performone or more of the functions described below using special-purposehardware.

At block 605, method 600 may include communicating a call request fromthe video monitoring component of the home automation system to a firstremote user based at least in part on the received call initiationinstruction. Block 605 may therefore be an example of block 515 ofmethod 500, as described with respect to FIG. 5, among others.

At block 610, the method 600 may include receiving a call acceptancefrom the first remote user. For example, the first remote user mayreceive a standard phone call at his smartphone, and may select “accept”or input some other command at his phone to accept the incoming callrequest. In other examples, the first remote user may receive a pushnotification through a dedicated application on his smartphone ortablet, and may input an acceptance at the application. In still otherexamples, the first remote user may receive a standard email or SMS textmessage, and may reply to the message with an acceptance. The acceptancefrom the first remote user may be communicated back to the homeautomation system.

At block 615, the method 600 may include initiating a two-way callbetween the video monitoring component of the home automation system andthe first remote user. In some examples, the two-way call may be in theform of a two-way audio call, while in other examples the call may be aone-way video call, wherein only one of the home occupant or the firstremote user may view the other, or in still other examples, the call maybe a two-way video call. The two-way call may be facilitated by the homeautomation system, and may utilize a Wi-Fi signal, among othercommunication techniques.

Thus, the method 600 may provide for two-way communication methodsrelating to automation/security systems. It should be noted that themethod 600 is just one implementation and that the operations of themethod 600 may be rearranged or otherwise modified such that otherimplementations are possible.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method 700 forcommunicating recorded messages between a video monitoring component ofa home automation system and a first remote user, in accordance withvarious aspects of the present disclosure. For clarity, the method 700is described below with reference to aspects of one or more of thesensor units 110, local computing device 115, control panel 130, and/orremote computing device 135, 145 described with reference to FIGS. 1-4,and/or aspects of one or more of the apparatus 205, 205-a, or 205-bdescribed with reference to FIGS. 2-4. In some examples, a controlpanel, local computing device, and/or sensor unit may execute one ormore sets of codes to control the functional elements described below.Additionally or alternatively, the control panel, local computingdevice, and/or sensor unit may perform one or more of the functionsdescribed below using special-purpose hardware.

At block 705, the method 700 may include communicating a call requestfrom the video monitoring component of the home automation system to afirst remote user based at least in part on the received call initiationinstruction. Thus, block 705 may be an example of block 515 of method500, as described with respect to FIG. 5, and/or block 605 of method600, as described with respect to FIG. 6.

At block 710, the method 700 may include receiving a call rejection fromthe first remote user. As discussed above with respect to FIG. 6, thefirst remote user may receive the call request at his personal computingdevice, for example in the form of an email, SMS text message, phonecall, and/or push notification, and may elect whether to accept orreject the call request. In other examples, a failure to respond to thecall request, for example because the first remote user is away from hisphone and does not receive the request, may result in an automatic,passive call rejection, without the need for an active rejection by thefirst remote user. In some examples, the user initiating the call may benotified about whether the call was actively rejected and/or passivelyrejected and may initiate one or more additional actions based at leastin part on one or more notifications. In this example, the first remoteuser has elected to reject the call request, either passively oractively. This call rejection may be communicated back to the homeautomation system.

In some examples, method 700 may continue from block 710 to block 715,at which the method 700 may include recording a message at the homeautomation system. For example, the home occupant may have inputted acall request at a video monitoring component of the home automationsystem, and may be notified at the video monitoring component, or atsome other component of the home automation system, that the firstremote user has rejected the home occupant's call request. As a resultof this rejection, the home occupant may receive a prompt, for examplein the form of a visual, auditory, and/or haptic alert or message,notifying the home occupant that his call request has been rejected, andgiving him the option to record a message to be communicated to thefirst remote user. The home occupant may record this message, forexample in the form of a text, audio, and/or video message, at acomponent of the home automation system.

At block 720, the method 700 may include communicating the recordedmessage to the first remote user. In some examples, as with the callrequest, the recorded message may be communicated to the first remoteuser, for example via Wi-Fi, as any of an email or text message, voicemessage, or push notification, or a combination thereof, at the firstremote user's smartphone, tablet, or other personal computing device.The first remote user may view the recorded message immediately uponreceipt, or may view the message at his convenience.

At block 725, the method 700 may include receiving a response messagefrom the first remote user at the home automation system based at leastin part on the received call rejection or the communicated recordedmessage. Thus, in some examples, the method 700 may proceed directlyfrom block 710, at which the first remote user rejects the call request,to block 725, at which the first remote user records a response messageto be communicated back to the home automation system. In otherexamples, the method 700 may proceed as described above, with the firstremote user recording a message at block 725 in response to a recordedmessage received from the home occupant. The first remote user mayrecord a response message at his personal computing device, for examplein the form of an audio, video, and/or text message. The recordedresponse message may be communicated to the home occupant at any one ormore component of the home automation system, and may be displayedand/or broadcasted for the home occupant. For example, the first remoteuser may record a video message through a dedicated application on hissmartphone, and the recorded video message may be played automatically,or in response to a prompt from the home occupant, at a control panelfor the home occupant to view. In some examples, the method 700 maycycle one or more times between blocks 725, 715, and 720, such that thehome occupant and the first remote user may conduct an ongoingconversation in the form of text, audio, and/or video messages, withouta two-way call ever being initiated.

In other examples, the method 700 may proceed from block 710, at which acall rejection is received from the first remote user, to block 730, atwhich the method 700 may include communicating the call request to asecond remote user based at least in part on the call rejection. Forexample, a child home alone may have initially attempted to contact hismother by inputting a call request at a video monitoring component ofthe home automation system. The mother may have received but rejectedthe call request, for example because she is in a meeting, or may havemissed the call request all together, because she was away from herphone or computer, resulting in a passive call request rejection. Inresponse to this rejection, the home automation system may automaticallyrelay the call request to a second remote user, such as the child'sfather, based, for example, at least in part on one or more inputtedcall preferences. These inputted call preferences may be specific to acalling user's preferences and/or profile, and/or may relate to one ormore remote users' profiles and/or preferences, and/or system settingsand/or defaults, among other things. In other examples, the homeautomation system may notify the child that the call request has beenrejected, and he may manually input a second call request to his fatheror another remote user.

Thus, the method 700 may provide for various system responses to a callrequest rejection. It should be noted that the method 700 is just oneimplementation and that the operations of the method 700 may berearranged or otherwise modified such that other implementations arepossible.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method 800 forcommunicating call requests to one or more second remote users, inaccordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. For clarity,the method 800 is described below with reference to aspects of one ormore of the sensor units 110, local computing device 115, control panel130, and/or remote computing device 135, 145 described with reference toFIGS. 1-4, and/or aspects of one or more of the apparatus 205, 205-a, or205-b described with reference to FIGS. 2-4. In some examples, a controlpanel, local computing device, and/or sensor unit may execute one ormore sets of codes to control the functional elements described below.Additionally or alternatively, the control panel, local computingdevice, and/or sensor unit may perform one or more of the functionsdescribed below using special-purpose hardware.

At block 805, the method 800 may include communicating a call requestfrom the video monitoring component of the home automation system to afirst remote user based at least in part on the received call initiationinstruction. Thus, block 805 may be an example of any of block 515 ofmethod 500, as described with respect to FIG. 5, or block 605 of method600, as described with respect to FIG. 6.

At block 810, the method 800 may include communicating the call requestto at least a second remote user. In some embodiments, the method 800 atblocks 805 and 810 may occur partially or fully simultaneously, while inother examples, the method 800 at blocks 805 and 810 may occursequentially. For example, a home occupant may wish to contact anyremote user associated with the home automation system, withoutspecificity. Accordingly, at block 810, the call request may becommunicated to all remote users associated with the home automationsystem. In some examples, the method 800 at block 810 may occur inseries, such that each remote user associated with the home automationsystem receives a call request in series until one of the remote usersaccepts the call request, after which no further requests will be sent.In other examples, all of the remote users may receive call requests atthe same time or nearly the same time, and one or more than one remoteusers may accept the call request such that a two-way call between thehome occupant and one or more remote users may be established.

In other examples, the method 800 may proceed from block 805 to block815, which may include identifying a portion of the call initiationinstruction. For example, as discussed above with respect to FIG. 3, aninstruction analyzing module may analyze the received call request forkey words, phrases, gestures, images, video segments, or the like, todetermine one or more second remote users to whom to communicate thecall request. In this way, the home automation system may deduce one ormore second remote users with whom the home occupant may wish toinitiate a two-way call, for example in the event that the first remoteuser rejects the call request, or in other examples in order to initiatea group call.

In other examples, the method 800 may proceed from block 815 to block820, which may include communicating the call request to a second remoteuser based at least in part on the identifying. For example, asdiscussed above with respect to FIG. 3, after one or more portions ofthe call initiation instruction have been identified and/or analyzed,one or more components may communicate the call request to a secondremote user based at least in part on the identifying and/or theanalyzing. In this way, based at least in part on the home automationsystem deducing one or more second remote users with whom the homeoccupant may wish communicate, one or more components may transmitand/or otherwise communicate information, such as a call request, to asecond remote user.

In some examples, aspects from two or more of the methods 500, 600, 700,800 may be combined and/or separated. It should be noted that themethods 500, 600, 700, 800 are just example implementations, and thatthe operations of the methods 500-800 may be rearranged or otherwisemodified such that other implementations are possible.

The detailed description set forth above in connection with the appendeddrawings describes examples and does not represent the only instancesthat may be implemented or that are within the scope of the claims. Theterms “example” and “exemplary,” when used in this description, mean“serving as an example, instance, or illustration,” and not “preferred”or “advantageous over other examples.” The detailed description includesspecific details for the purpose of providing an understanding of thedescribed techniques. These techniques, however, may be practicedwithout these specific details. In some instances, known structures andapparatuses are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuringthe concepts of the described examples.

Information and signals may be represented using any of a variety ofdifferent technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions,commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may bereferenced throughout the above description may be represented byvoltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles,optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

The various illustrative blocks and components described in connectionwith this disclosure may be implemented or performed with ageneral-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, anFPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistorlogic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designedto perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processormay be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may beany conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, and/or statemachine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination ofcomputing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor,multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunctionwith a DSP core, and/or any other such configuration.

The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, softwareexecuted by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. Ifimplemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may bestored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are withinthe scope and spirit of the disclosure and appended claims. For example,due to the nature of software, functions described above can beimplemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware,hardwiring, or combinations of any of these. Features implementingfunctions may also be physically located at various positions, includingbeing distributed such that portions of functions are implemented atdifferent physical locations.

As used herein, including in the claims, the term “and/or,” when used ina list of two or more items, means that any one of the listed items canbe employed by itself, or any combination of two or more of the listeditems can be employed. For example, if a composition is described ascontaining components A, B, and/or C, the composition can contain Aalone; B alone; C alone; A and B in combination; A and C in combination;B and C in combination; or A, B, and C in combination. Also, as usedherein, including in the claims, “or” as used in a list of items (forexample, a list of items prefaced by a phrase such as “at least one of”or “one or more of”) indicates a disjunctive list such that, forexample, a list of “at least one of A, B, or C” means A or B or C or ABor AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C).

In addition, any disclosure of components contained within othercomponents or separate from other components should be consideredexemplary because multiple other architectures may potentially beimplemented to achieve the same functionality, including incorporatingall, most, and/or some elements as part of one or more unitarystructures and/or separate structures.

Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media andcommunication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of acomputer program from one place to another. A storage medium may be anyavailable medium that can be accessed by a general purpose or specialpurpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation,computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory,CD-ROM, DVD, or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage orother magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used tocarry or store desired program code means in the form of instructions ordata structures and that can be accessed by a general-purpose orspecial-purpose computer, or a general-purpose or special-purposeprocessor. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readablemedium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website,server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable,twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologiessuch as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiberoptic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such asinfrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium.Disk and disc, as used herein, include compact disc (CD), laser disc,optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray discwhere disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproducedata optically with lasers. Combinations of the above are also includedwithin the scope of computer-readable media.

The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable aperson skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Variousmodifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to thoseskilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may beapplied to other variations without departing from the scope of thedisclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not to be limited to the examplesand designs described herein but is to be accorded the broadest scopeconsistent with the principles and novel features disclosed.

This disclosure may specifically apply to security system applications.This disclosure may specifically apply to automation systemapplications. In some embodiments, the concepts, the technicaldescriptions, the features, the methods, the ideas, and/or thedescriptions may specifically apply to security and/or automation systemapplications. Distinct advantages of such systems for these specificapplications are apparent from this disclosure.

The process parameters, actions, and steps described and/or illustratedin this disclosure are given by way of example only and can be varied asdesired. For example, while the steps illustrated and/or described maybe shown or discussed in a particular order, these steps do notnecessarily need to be performed in the order illustrated or discussed.The various exemplary methods described and/or illustrated here may alsoomit one or more of the steps described or illustrated here or includeadditional steps in addition to those disclosed.

Furthermore, while various embodiments have been described and/orillustrated here in the context of fully functional computing systems,one or more of these exemplary embodiments may be distributed as aprogram product in a variety of forms, regardless of the particular typeof computer-readable media used to actually carry out the distribution.The embodiments disclosed herein may also be implemented using softwaremodules that perform certain tasks. These software modules may includescript, batch, or other executable files that may be stored on acomputer-readable storage medium or in a computing system. In someembodiments these software modules may permit and/or instruct acomputing system to perform one or more of the exemplary embodimentsdisclosed here.

This description, for purposes of explanation, has been described withreference to specific embodiments. The illustrative discussions above,however, are not intended to be exhaustive or limit the present systemsand methods to the precise forms discussed. Many modifications andvariations are possible in view of the above teachings. The embodimentswere chosen and described in order to explain the principles of thepresent systems and methods and their practical applications, to enableothers skilled in the art to utilize the present systems, apparatus, andmethods and various embodiments with various modifications as may besuited to the particular use contemplated.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for security and/or automation systems,comprising: receiving a call initiation instruction at a videomonitoring component of a home security system, the video monitoringcomponent positioned inside the home; analyzing the call initiationinstruction to determine a user of the video monitoring component;communicating a call request from the video monitoring component of thehome security system to a first remote user based at least in part onthe analyzed call initiation instruction; identifying a portion of thecall initiation instruction; determining at least a second remote userassociated with the first remote user based and the user of the videomonitoring component based at least in part on identifying the portionof the call initiation instruction and a characteristic of the user ofthe video monitoring component; and communicating the call request tothe second remote user, the second remote user being different from thefirst remote user and the user of the video monitoring component.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a call acceptance fromthe first remote user; and initiating a two-way call between the videomonitoring component of the home security system and the first remoteuser.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the two-way call comprises: anyof a two-way audio call, or a one-way video call, or a two-way videocall, or a combination thereof.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving a call rejection from the first remote user;recording a message at the home security system; and communicating therecorded message to the first remote user.
 5. The method of claim 4,wherein the recorded message comprises: any of an audio message, or avideo message, or a text message, or a combination thereof.
 6. Themethod of claim 4, further comprising: receiving a response message fromthe first remote user at the home security system based at least in parton the received call rejection or the communicated recorded message. 7.The method of claim 6, wherein the response message comprises: any of anaudio message, or a video message, or a text message, or a combinationthereof.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a callrejection from the first remote user; and communicating the call requestto the second, different remote user based at least in part on the callrejection.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: communicatingthe call request to all remote users of the home security system. 10.The method of claim 1, wherein communicating the call request to thefirst remote user overlaps with communicating the call request to atleast the second, different remote user.
 11. The method of claim 1,wherein the identified portion of the call initiation instructioncomprises: any of a key word, or a key phrase, or a combination thereof.12. The method of claim 1, wherein the identified portion of the callinitiation instruction comprises: any of an image, or a video segment,or a combination thereof.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the callinitiation instruction is received as any of an auditory command, or agestural command, or a user input, or a combination thereof.
 14. Anapparatus for security and/or automation systems, comprising: aprocessor; memory in electronic communication with the processor; andinstructions stored in the memory, the instructions being executable bythe processor to: receive a call initiation instruction at a videomonitoring component of a home security system, the video monitoringcomponent positioned inside the home; analyze the call initiationinstruction to determine a user of the video monitoring component;communicate a call request from the video monitoring component of thehome security system to a first remote user based at least in part onthe analyzed call initiation instruction; identify a portion of the callinitiation instruction; determine at least a second remote userassociated with the first remote user based and the user of the videomonitoring component based at least in part on identifying the portionof the call initiation instruction and a characteristic of the user ofthe video monitoring component; and communicate the call request to thesecond remote user, the second remote user being different from thefirst remote user and the user of the video monitoring component. 15.The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configuredto: receive a call acceptance from the first remote user; and initiate atwo-way call between the video monitoring component of the home securitysystem and the first remote user.
 16. The apparatus of claim 14, whereinthe processor is further configured to: receive a call rejection fromthe first remote user; record a message at the home security system; andcommunicate the recorded message to the first remote user.
 17. Theapparatus of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to:receive a response message from the first remote user at the homesecurity system based at least in part on the received call rejection orthe communicated recorded message.
 18. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium storing computer-executable code, the codeexecutable by a processor to: receive a call initiation instruction at avideo monitoring component of a home security system, the videomonitoring component positioned inside the home; analyze the callinitiation instruction to determine a user of the video monitoringcomponent; communicate a call request from the video monitoringcomponent of the home security system to a first remote user based atleast in part on the analyzed call initiation instruction; identify aportion of the call initiation instruction; determine at least a secondremote user associated with the first remote user based and the user ofthe video monitoring component based at least in part on identifying theportion of the call initiation instruction and a characteristic of theuser of the video monitoring component; and communicate the call requestto the second remote user, the second remote user being different fromthe first remote user and the user of the video monitoring component.19. The method of claim 1, wherein: the portion of the call initiationinstruction is a key phrase or key word identifying a relationshipbetween the first remote user and the user of the video monitoringcomponent, and the relationship between the first remote user and theuser of the video monitoring component is a same relationship as arelationship between the second, different remote user and the user ofthe video monitoring component.